Kay Jewelers opens doors at Commons

Grand opening planned for May

STERLING – Kay Jewelers opened its store in Sterling Commons on Friday.

The soft opening will build up to a 3-day customer appreciation event set for Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-11.

“We’ll have special $20 items, discounts from our Mother’s Day catalog and throughout the store, and hors d’oeuvres,” store manager Sandi Wittenauer said.

The store has a repair and service center, and also offers custom-made jewelry.

The company had several reasons to build at the Commons in east Sterling, Wittenauer said. One of the draws was simple geography.

“The nearest Kay in any direction is at least an hour away – in Peru, and South Park in Moline,” Wittenauer said.

The growth prospects for the East Lincolnway area were also enticing to the Akron, Ohio-based retailer.

“We try to position ourselves in areas with growth potential,” Wittenauer said, “and we knew there was a lot of development coming this way.”

Kay also tries to site its stores near other mid-priced retailers such as Kohl’s, and would prefer to get out of the mall setting, Wittenauer said.

Kay’s parent company, Signet Jewelers, recently got much bigger. On Feb. 19, Signet announced it would merge with Zale Corp., one of its biggest competitors. The deal, worth about $1.4 billion, brought another recognizable brand into the Signet fold that includes such names as Jared the Galleria of Jewelry and JB Robinson.